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TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that a former East Orange grocery
store owner has pleaded guilty to money
laundering in connection with a scheme to
defraud the federally funded Women, Infants
and Children (WIC) nutrition program by
means of fraudulent vouchers.
According
to Director Taylor, Elvis Manuel Sanchez-Vazquez,
36, of Elizabeth, a former owner of Sanchez
Supermarket on Springdale Avenue in East
Orange, pleaded guilty yesterday to first-degree
money laundering before Superior Court Judge
Edward M. Neafsey in Mercer County. The
charge was contained in an eight-count state
grand jury indictment obtained by the Division
of Criminal Justice on June 8, 2009.
Under
the plea agreement, the state will recommend
that Sanchez-Vazquez be sentenced to 10
years in state prison, one-third of which
would have to be served without possibility
of parole. Judge Neafsey scheduled sentencing
for Dec. 15. Deputy Attorney General Michael
A. Monahan took the guilty plea for the
Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau.
In
pleading guilty, Sanchez-Vazquez, an authorized
WIC vendor, admitted that he knowingly purchased
fraudulent WIC vouchers from another defendant
in the case, Benedicto Bernal, and deposited
them in a bank account he controlled in
order to fraudulently collect more than
$500,000 from the WIC program. He admitted
that his transactions were designed to conceal
the source and fraudulent nature of the
vouchers.
Bernal,
32, of Newark, owner of Dreamers Supermarket
on 7th Avenue in Newark, pleaded guilty
on Dec. 1, 2009, to a charge of first-degree
money laundering before Judge Neafsey. Bernal,
who was not an authorized WIC vendor, admitted
that he purchased fraudulent vouchers from
Charles Brown, a former senior clerk for
the Newark WIC Program, and resold them
by the stack to vendors in Essex, Camden,
Union and Middlesex counties. Ultimately,
the fraudulent vouchers were deposited into
the bank accounts of more than 20 WIC-authorized
vendors.
The
investigation by the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Bureau revealed that
between Dec. 1, 2005, and Jan. 31, 2007,
Brown and other employees of the Newark
WIC Program conspired to issue more than
$1 million in fake vouchers.
Brown,
43, of Newark, pleaded guilty to second-degree
official misconduct for his role in the
scheme and was sentenced on Feb. 23, 2009,
to eight years in state prison by Superior
Court Judge Michael A. Petrolle in Essex
County. On Feb. 20, 2009, another former
senior clerk in the Newark WIC Program,
Wyetta Judson, 40, of Newark, pleaded guilty
to second-degree official misconduct. She
has not been sentenced yet. The state will
recommend that she also be sentenced to
state prison.
Sanchez-Vazquez
and Bernal were indicted along with Audrey
Walker Bey, 37, of Newark, a former clerk
for the Newark WIC Program. The charges
against Walker Bey are pending. Walker Bey
was arrested in May 2008 as a result of
the investigation and is free on $40,000
bail.
Sanchez-Vazquez
was arrested in February 2010. Bail was
set at $500,000. He is an undocumented immigrant
and has been referred to U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A federal
detainer has been placed on him.
The
investigation began when the New Jersey
Department of Health and Senior Services
and the Newark Department of Health and
Human Services alerted the Division of Criminal
Justice to suspected thefts of vouchers
from the Newark WIC Program.
Deputy
Attorneys General Michael Monahan and Jeffrey
Manis are prosecuting the case. The investigation
was conducted by Detective Michael Behar
and Sgt. David Salzmann of the Division
of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau, with
the assistance of Administrative Analyst
Kathleen Ratliff.
WIC
is a federally funded program, administered
by the New Jersey Department of Health and
Senior Services, that provides low-income
women who are pregnant or breast feeding
and guardians of children up to age 5 with
vouchers to purchase nutritional necessities,
including baby formula, milk, orange juice
and cereal. The vouchers can be redeemed
at any store approved as a WIC vendor for
food items specifically listed on the voucher.
Once redeemed, the vendor completes the
voucher by filling in the cost of the product
supplied. The Newark WIC Program is one
of 18 WIC programs in New Jersey.
Attorney
General Dow and Director Taylor noted that
the Division of Criminal Justice - Corruption
Bureau has established a statewide Corruption
Tipline: 1-866-TIPS-4CJ.
Additionally, the public can log on to the
Division’s Web page at www.njdcj.org
to report suspected wrongdoing. All information
received through the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Tipline or Web page will
remain confidential.
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